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Removing Landmines and Cluster Bombs in Karabakh

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  • Removing Landmines and Cluster Bombs in Karabakh

    Removing Landmines and Cluster Bombs in Karabakh

    http://asbarez.com/107464/removing-landmines-and-cluster-bombs-in-karabakh/
    Friday, January 4th, 2013 | Posted by Contributor

    A shOAB cluster munition found near Vazgenashan village - the deminer
    places an explosive charge to destroy it

    Great Success in Clearance but Need Remains

    BY AMY CURREN

    It is hard to imagine having to worry that your next step might set
    off an explosion. Can you imagine a child, unable to remember a war,
    yet becoming its victim? Though fighting ceased 18 years ago, the
    people of Nagorno Karabakh still suffer from landmines and cluster
    bombs. The 1992-94 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan left behind
    hundreds of minefields and cluster bomb strikes. Last February, Melo
    Babayan, a shepherd from Lachin Region and father of four, stepped on
    a landmine while herding his sheep. He lost his left leg in the
    accident. In fact, Karabakh has one of the world's highest per capita
    mine casualty rates - on a par with Afghanistan and surpassing
    Cambodia. Since the ceasefire, The HALO Trust has recorded 335 mine or
    explosive remnants of war casualties in Karabakh between 1995 and the
    end of 2012. Over a quarter of the total recorded casualties (89) were
    children, mostly boys.

    The good news is that The HALO Trust, the world's oldest and largest
    humanitarian mineclearance organization, established in Karabakh since
    1995, has made tremendous progress. HALO currently employs 142
    Karabakhi staff, supported by a single international expatriate. To
    date, the locally recruited staff have destroyed over 65,000 explosive
    items and returned over 64,000 acres of land for productive use. Over
    85% of the minefields have been cleared in Karabakh, and 70% of all
    cluster munition strikes. As a result, causality rates have declined
    annually since 1995.

    HALO's work not only protects potential victims it returns valuable
    land to the local community for safe use. As even where the presence
    of mines and cluster bombs is known and can be avoided, they cripple
    the economy by denying farmers the use of the land. Clearance saves
    lives and puts family farms back in business. Farmer Seyran
    Aghadjanian's fields, near Vazgenashen Village in Martuni Region, were
    mined during the war. Local farmers lost two tractors attempting to
    cultivate land in the area before they decided it was just too
    dangerous. HALO cleared 28 acres of agricultural land that allowed
    Seyran and the other famers to cultivate in safety. He said, `Now that
    HALO has cleared the area I am happy - I can grow corn and support my
    family.' Seyran's story is typical. It is estimated that the
    potential economic output of the contaminated land being released -
    primarily agricultural land - exceeds $5 million a year.

    Norashen, in Hadrut Region, is one of the villages that still require
    clearance. Mines were laid in 1992 by Azeri soldiers protecting their
    military positions and have since caused many accidents. The area
    suspected of containing mines is approximately 60 acres. This area
    includes agricultural fields owned by five families. Gohar Karapetyan
    is one of the landowners whose family would directly benefit from the
    mineclearance. She lives with her son, his wife, his four children and
    her late brother's three orphaned grandchildren (her husband died from
    a heart attack two years ago). Her son Edward, works for the gas
    department earning 40,000AMDs ($96) per month and is the only member
    of the family who earns a regular income. The family wants to
    cultivate the 11 acres of land they own but is frightened to do so
    because of the mines. The sales from the wheat they could grow on the
    land would earn them an extra $3,000 a year, significantly helping
    them to provide for their family.

    The end is in sight and HALO is actively looking for champions from
    the Armenian community to help finish the job. HALO's work in Nagorno
    Karabakh is currently supported by the U.S. Agency for International
    Development (USAID), the Reece Foundation and Grapes for Humanity,
    Canada. Yet, in 2013, without new private donors, HALO faces a
    shortfall of funds which would delay completion of this urgent and
    lifesaving work. Furthermore, HALO is restricted in the areas in
    which it can use its USAID funding - for example it cannot be used
    around Berdzor. This means that without a significant increase in
    private donor funding the people of Berdzor and similar areas will
    live with the threat of mines for many years to come. Join The HALO
    Trust in the campaign to bring an end to this deadly legacy and
    instead a better future to the people of Artsakh.

    To support mineclearance in Artsakh or for more information contact
    Amy Currin, HALO's Development Manager, at [email protected] or
    +1-415-986-4852. You can donate online at halousa.org or via check to
    The HALO Trust 220 Montgomery Street, Suite 968, San Francisco, CA
    94104.

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